President Joe Biden is commemorating the 23 individuals who had been killed in a mass taking pictures at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas two years in the past Tuesday by reiterating his dedication to finish ‘home terrorism rooted in white supremacy’ and ‘the plague of gun violence’ over the US.
He additionally met with Latino neighborhood leaders on the White Home immediately the place he and Kamala Harris reiterated their dedication to serving to Latino households and companies combat extremism and get well from the COVID pandemic.
Additionally on Monday, Biden doubled down on pushing immigration reform that features a path to citizenship for DREAMers, farm employees and important employees by way of in Congressional Democrats’ reconciliation invoice.
‘Two years in the past, a gunman armed with rage and rifle focused the individuals of El Paso, and our most deeply held American values,’ Biden wrote in an op-ed for the El Paso Occasions. ‘He thought that his hatred of immigrants may show extra highly effective than the tradition and vibrancy of the individuals of this neighborhood. He was mistaken.’
Biden penned the op-ed to mark two years for the reason that mass taking pictures at an El Paso Walmart that killed 23 individuals in August 2019
He and Vice President Kamala Harris additionally met with Latino neighborhood leaders, reiterating their dedication to combat home terrorism and complete immigration reform to assist tens of millions of individuals achieve a pathway to citizenship
He opened the letter with a message to the victims’ households and sending ‘love’ on behalf of him and first woman Jill Biden and acknowledging that ‘all that you simply misplaced can by no means get replaced.’
‘For the family members left behind, it has been two years of ache considering of massive and small issues. The objectives he gained’t have the prospect to attain on the soccer area. The younger toddler who’s now strolling however with out his mother and father holding his hand with pleasure,’ the president, who himself misplaced his first spouse and toddler daughter in an accident and later a son to mind most cancers, wrote.
‘As arduous as it’s to imagine, I need you to know that the day will come when the reminiscence of the one you misplaced will deliver a smile to your lips earlier than it brings a tear to your eye.’
He stated the US intelligence neighborhood has since confirmed what El Paso residents know ‘too nicely.’
‘Essentially the most deadly terrorist menace to our homeland in recent times has been home terrorism rooted in white supremacy. We can not ignore it. We should confront the unfold of hate-fueled violence in each kind.’
The Biden administration is the primary White Home to launch a report detailing a ‘Nationwide Technique for Countering Home Terrorism.’
It outlines 4 primary parts to fight the ‘critical and evolving’ menace – understanding and sharing info on the complete vary of threats, stopping home terrorists from recruiting and mobilizing People on-line and different locations, efforts to discourage home terror exercise earlier than it erupts into violence and addressing ‘long-term points’ to be able to diminish the menace over generations.
Biden commiserated with the grief of households who misplaced family members within the taking pictures (pictured: Walmart workers pay their respects at a makeshift memorial days after the taking pictures)
Biden additionally known as on Congress to ban the type of weapons utilized by the El Paso shooter
Biden stated the shooter ‘thought that his hatred of immigrants may show extra highly effective than the tradition and vibrancy of the individuals of this neighborhood’ when he focused the world
Federal regulation enforcement businesses like DOJ, FBI and DHS additionally dedicated to an ‘elevated focus’ on monitoring home terrorism and growing info sharing with state and native authorities.
The Justice Division and FBI are additionally reportedly rolling out a brand new system to trace home terrorism nationwide, based on Fox Information.
The outlet additionally reported that the Division of Homeland Safety designated ‘Home Violence Extremism’ as a nationwide precedence space inside its grant program and can allocate upwards of $77 million towards responding to the menace.
Biden additionally reaffirmed his pledge to preventing gun violence within the face of surging firearms crime within the US.
Final yr was the deadliest yr of gun violence in no less than 20 years, based on the Gun Violence Archive. Greater than 8,000 individuals had been killed by gun violence within the first 5 months of 2021 alone.
He known as on all People to fight hate-fueled violence for themselves, El Paso and the US as an entire (pictured: A mural painted within the wake of the mass taking pictures)
‘As we work collectively to counter the forces of violent hatred, we should additionally decide to ending the plague of gun violence that steals harmless lives and continues to devastate our communities,’ Biden wrote.
He vowed to do all the pieces he may to combat for ‘commonsense gun legal guidelines that People overwhelmingly help’ and known as on Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines like those utilized by the El Paso shooter.
On the finish of June Biden and Lawyer Normal Merrick Garland introduced a ‘zero tolerance’ coverage for licensed gun sellers who ‘willfully violate key current legal guidelines and laws’ to site visitors weapons out of state and introduced new ‘strike forces’ to focus on traffickers.
Biden ended his piece by urging People to ‘stand united towards hate and violence,’ arguing that ‘we owe it to the households of El Paso’ and ‘the soul of our very nation.’
Source link